Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Diversity, race policies at MGM MIRAGE debated

The Nevada Gaming Control Board heard a ferocious debate Thursday over the diversity practices of Las Vegas casino giant MGM MIRAGE.

The company has been widely praised for its efforts to make diversity in hiring and contracting a priority. But activists and some current and former employees leveled new allegations of racial discrimination Thursday.

"I assure you the MGM will come tumbling down ... we believe we are right, and God will prevail," thundered Gene Collins, head of the Las Vegas office of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, during a public comment period.

But not everyone agreed with the organization's assessment of MGM MIRAGE.

"Only the most naive of us would say racism no longer exists in America," said Louis Overstreet, executive director of Las Vegas' black-oriented Urban Chamber of Commerce. "But no one industry, no one company, no one individual is capable of solving that problem. It's not easy to be first, and they (MGM MIRAGE) are to be commended for that (its diversity plan)."

MGM MIRAGE and Collins, the deposed president of the Las Vegas NAACP, have been battling for nearly two years over diversity issues. The criticisms of Collins at a control board meeting two years ago ultimately contributed to MGM MIRAGE's decision to put together a comprehensive plan for improving diversity both in contracting and hiring.

Collins and the National Action Network have continued to press their attack against MGM MIRAGE -- despite its diversity plan -- while not targeting its competitors.

"We don't have the resources to fight against all these casinos at once, but we know the whole world's watching with MGM," Network spokesman Stan Washington said. "They (other operators) are coming next. They will know exactly how we operate and what to expect."

In its first diversity report last month, the company reported it had spent $220,000 of $29.4 million in 2000 construction expenditures with black-owned firms. In purchasing, $750,000 of $445 million went to black-owned firms. Terry Lanni, chairman and chief executive of MGM MIRAGE, said at a luncheon that the firm had "a long way to go" in its diversity efforts.

But Collins and Washington insisted the numbers demonstrated the company was merely talking, not acting, on diversity concerns.

The central focus of their battle, however, has been Collins' repeated demands that MGM MIRAGE provide $100 million for a fund targeted at investments in predominantly black west Las Vegas.

MGM MIRAGE has called Collins' campaign little more than extortion. Collins responded by pointing toward a $50 million fund made available to Detroit minority businesses when MGM MIRAGE was awarded one of three casino licenses in that city.

"Why should that be called extortion here?" Collins said. "If you're going to invest $50 million in Detroit, we expect the same in our community."

Company spokesman Alan Feldman responded that the $50 million "Business Development Fund" was a loan pool, not a grant.

"There are no gifts," Feldman said. "In Nevada, we are absolutely looking for opportunities to make loans to local (minority) businesses."

But Collins' organization now claims the problems extend beyond this dispute. Now, it's accusing MGM MIRAGE of racial and gender discrimination within its ranks.

An MGM Grand limousine driver, Darin Isaac, told the board that he'd been harassed by company officials over his efforts to organize drivers under the Teamsters Union. Isaac elicited gasps from some in the audience when he claimed one supervisor had remarked, "If it's the last thing I do, I'll get rid of that nigger." Another supervisor referred to him as a "porch monkey," Isaac said. Isaac said he had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the alleged slurs.

Franklin Morgan Jr., a former casino porter at the Mirage, told the board he had been assaulted by a white co-worker for looking at a white woman. When he took the complaint to Mirage security and to Nevada officials, Morgan said both grew angry with him and refused to act. Morgan has since filed a federal lawsuit.

Feldman declined to comment on any of the cases after Thursday's hearing, but said each had been investigated by company officials, and that disciplinary action had been taken where appropriate.

Board Chairman Dennis Neilander called the stories "troublesome," but emphasized the board could not act unless gaming regulations were violated.

In his response to the allegations, MGM MIRAGE attorney Uri Clinton implied the incidents were isolated in nature.

"If you look at one piece of the puzzle by itself, it distorts the picture," Clinton said. "MGM has a commitment to treat all its employees with respect and dignity, without regard to race. Any employer who employs as many people as MGM (35,000 in Southern Nevada) ... will have employees that do not have a good experience."

MGM MIRAGE sought to back that up with testimony from four employees, all black, who told board members they couldn't be happier with the company, that hard work was rewarded, regardless of race.

One was 13-year veteran Michael Paige, who now works as a limousine driver at the Bellagio. Paige told the board how a number of his family members, including his wife and two daughters, now work for the company.

"From one month to the next, they kept unfolding (opportunities)," Paige said. "My salary went up four times in two years, and they treated me very well. I can't say enough about this company. I couldn't be happier."

MGM MIRAGE also found itself under attack on a second front during Thursday's hearing, when Tom Grey -- executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling -- appealed to the board to stop MGM MIRAGE's controversial attempt to buy a Chicago casino license.

MGM MIRAGE has struck a deal to acquire a casino license in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont for $615 million from Emerald Casino Inc. Emerald's bid to build a casino there was denied by Illinois gaming regulators, who alleged the majority shareholders had not been honest with them during an investigation. There were also allegations that construction companies working on the project had ties to organized crime.

Grey accused the company of trying to "use its muscle in the Midwest" to force a deal.

"I'm asking you to take a look at what MGM is doing," Grey said. "In light of what's happening in our state (Illinois), it seems to me you should call them off."

Gaming board members did not publicly address Grey's demand.

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